(Aria's POV)
"Aria, I want to end our mate bond," my fated mate, Florian, said solemnly over the phone.
The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs. For a moment, I couldn't process what I'd just heard. The phone felt heavy in my hand. My heart stuttered, then began to race, pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat, in my temples, in the very tips of my fingers gripping the device.
Inside me, Ava stirred-no, not stirred. She erupted. My wolf surged forward with a violence I'd never felt from her before, her presence flooding my consciousness with white-hot fury and disbelief. The mate bond, that sacred thread connecting us to Florian, suddenly felt like it was being pulled taut, stretched to its breaking point. I could feel it thrumming painfully beneath my skin, a warning, a protest.
"What the hell? What are you talking about?" The words came out sharper than I intended, but I couldn't help it. Ava was clawing at my control, her growl reverberating through my chest.
Memories flashed unbidden through my mind-Florian, bloodied and broken, stumbling into Meadow Brook territory six months ago. The moment our eyes met and the mate bond had snapped into place, fierce and undeniable. Moon Goddess, I had been overjoyed. Ava had been overjoyed. Yes, we'd both sensed his wolf's weakness, the strange frailty in his aura that didn't match a typical warrior. But we had accepted it without hesitation. The Moon Goddess had chosen him for us, and we had chosen to honor that bond.
I had spent months healing him, pouring my energy and skill into mending his wounds. I had held him through nightmares, soothed him when memories of his attack haunted him. I had given him everything-my care, my devotion, my trust. And now, now he wanted to sever our bond?
"I've discovered something important about myself," Florian continued, his voice maddeningly calm, as if he were discussing the weather and not destroying everything between us. "I'm not just some warrior from Meadow Brook Pack. I'm actually the son of the Alpha of Redwood Pack in Northgate City. I've taken my rightful name-Florian Redwood."
Alpha heir. The words echoed in my mind, hollow and bitter.
I forced myself to breathe, to think past the roaring in my ears. My free hand clenched into a fist at my side, nails digging into my palm hard enough to hurt. The pain helped ground me, kept me from completely losing control.
"That's... unexpected," I managed, my voice coming out steadier than I felt. "Congratulations, I guess."
The word tasted like ash on my tongue. Congratulations for discovering you're someone important? Congratulations for deciding I'm no longer good enough?
"As the future Alpha of Redwood Pack," he continued, and there was something in his tone now-pride, satisfaction, things I'd never heard from him before, "I need to reconsider certain... arrangements. Our mate bond isn't suitable anymore."
Arrangements. He called our sacred mate bond an arrangement. The mate bond the Moon Goddess herself had forged between us.